If you had told me that I would come out of E3 with the game I’m most looking forward to playing being the Mario + Rabbids crossover a few weeks ago, I would have laughed in your face. The idea seemed so ridiculous before we were filled in on the gameplay details. Now that we know it’s essentially XCOM-style gameplay with Mario and Rabbids, it’s definitely on my must play list.
So what do the people behind XCOM think about the cross-over that so lovingly borrows the tactical gameplay we’ve all come to know and love? Turns out they would have loved to partner with Nintendo sooner if they knew it was an option.
In a new interview with Game Informer, XCOM 2 creative director Jake Solomon says he was surprised by the game and reveals that he’d love to have been the one to do an XCOM-like with Nintendo characters.
“It was really cool to see. I started getting all these tweets, and so I went and watched the gameplay video of it. At one point they say something like, ‘And at this point Luigi has entered half cover,’ and I was like, ‘What world am I in?’”
Solomon is quick to point out that he’ll have an eye on the game because the tactical genre is always about making improvements. He says that any improvements Ubisoft can make could definitely end up in XCOM games in the future.
“If they do something great, I’ll steal it … anything good you do. … It’s not a zero sum game. Especially not in the genre that I design in. The rising tide and all that. I think that there’s an underserved audience. It’s going to generate more fans and it’s going to come up with new ideas.
Good news all around for those who like tactical games, but it’s interesting to see one of the industry’s heavy weights weigh in on how a game like Mario + Rabbids could introduce lots of new people to a genre they may not have considered before. Are you excited for Mario + Rabbids? Let us know in the comments.
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle – $59.99
